Beloved: Wilting a Nurtured Blossom
by thewanderingoutsider
Summary: Three sisters: one martyr, one sly, one heir. Two bonds formed by blood, one formed by wonder, three by love. Bonds to be made and broken. A prelude for a greater unravelling. #three one shots, #first fanfiction please review, #mild swearing, #kind of a prequel to A Story of Evil, #writer's drabble
1. Abyss

**~Abyss~**

My name is Daphne.

I am the nymph of Magix, the guardian who dwelt in the depths of Roccaluce. I have been the wielder of great powers and a chosen protector of the Dragon's Flame.

But above all things, I am the first-born daughter of Oritel and Marion, a Princess of Domino.

Loved rulers, noble warriors, they stood for all that was good and just: they were the epitome of glory. I was caught in their magnificent shadows. And I shared in their greatness.

That greatness consumed my youth.

Greatness is what drowned my proud world. I too drowned in greatness with the memories of my family and our nation, passing into obscure myths and ambiguous tales.

Yet another great ill-fated heroine to grace those dusty history books...

Perhaps if I had known how priced greatness was, maybe I would not have been so keen to drink from its sweet gibbet.

Forgive me for being cynical, but being trapped in an ethereal existence for nearly two decades enlightens you. The bodiless soul bound to a lake can only ever touch solid reality through shifting dreams and desperate whispers.

Ah, my life has been filled with fruitless sighs.

Witches must be well versed in dispensing cruel kindnesses. Despite my fate I have never truly lamented it, not because I _couldn't_, but because I _can't_.

I can't even remember the pain of my disembodiment, my death. I still can't really perceive the sensation of my muscle and tissue disintegrating, my bones breaking, the realisation of betrayal.

But I _know_ that happened. I _have to know_ that it happened.

How a spirit knows but cannot feel.

During those long watery years I had to cling desperately to the morals drummed into me in youth. For the temptation to relinquish worldly cares was very strong.

I mean, I had made my sacrifices and been promptly forgotten.

That physical domain had rejected me, but my struggling desires trapped me in a halfway existence! Did it matter where I came from or who I was?

I _felt_ like an anomaly, a foreigner, a refugee who was shackled to the darkness only because sanctuary had been deprived by rehearsed fate!

There was no homeland to turn back on, because it no longer existed! I shouldn't have had to struggle to cling to the life that no longer needed me!

Oh.

I don't think I should be thinking that way. Is…is this anger? Spirits aren't supposed to be…

Wait, that's right.

I'm not a ghost.

Not anymore. Not…anymore.

The mirror in my bedroom tells me this much. My bedroom, in my family's palace. The palace in the capital of my homeland. Domino.

Domino is alive. My planet breathes freely once more. I breathe.

I rub my fingers slowly on my temples, savouring and carefully noting the contact of skin. I feel the throb of crimson red breaths pumping through my flesh. Should I prick myself, those red breaths will gush through the punctures. I am once more fragile, susceptible. I am alive.

Ah.

How I must go through this ritual for days on end.

Though my soul regained its outer shell some time ago, I still cannot really reconcile myself to that fact. Neither the fact that states I am once again physically functional in the bustling universe.

The only object that reminds me of this is this mirror. Almost for _always_, mirrors were the only window to life beyond the watery confines of my cave. The only link that I felt I could touch that made myself…real.

I look in the mirror once again, at me wearing this flesh. Thinking about it leads me to wonder if I had been pre-destined to live in mere reflections of reality.

But methinks it is too early to appreciate the sensation of sorrow.

* * *

_"Daphne?" _

_At the sound of her name, the golden haired princess tore herself from the mirror. _

_"Oh! Bloom!" she squeaked, somewhat embarrassedly._

_"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" she asked, halfway through the gaping doorway. Daphne bit her lips; her darting eyes betrayed just how she was struggling to think clearly, from this unprecedented intrusion. _

_And her petite fleshy guise was not going to conceal her inability to answer._

_Bloom wasn't planning to stand waiting in silence though; her thin eyebrows slightly furrowed at her unresponsive sister. "I am clearly misunderstanding this situation; there is something wrong here isn't there?" she prompted._

_"N-nothing really, little sister. I mean, no, no of course not! I was just thinking." she glanced absently._

_ Bloom paused long faced. She had a few quick looks in and out of the room before closing the door soundlessly behind her._

_"Thinking? About what exactly?" Bloom breathed as she moved across the chamber._

_"Um, things. Honestly it's not anything important." Daphne huffed, her voice trailing off._

_"Is that so?" disbelief obvious in Bloom's tone._

_"W-well, yes!" Daphne retorted defensively. "When I say that nothing is important, nothing is important!"_

_"Clearly."_

_"Why are you here anyway?" impulsively, Daphne backed away from the advancing figure, the strangely civil and hostile figure, bathed in the early evening's glow. "Bloom are you the one who needs something? Why are you here?"_

_Still unresponsive. Daphne broke into a faint sweat. But now at the edge of her living quarters, she reached for the cold handles of the crystal exit. But Bloom was quicker; her hand fell sharply on one of the knobs, depriving the older sibling access. In a blink she grabbed Daphne's upper limbs, pinning her, staring unflinchingly._

_"Tell me why I shouldn't be?"_

_"W-w-why? I, a-ah –"_

_"Is the 'nothing' you were doing so important?" Bloom tilted her head slightly, looking out through the glass doors. "What were you planning to do? Jump off the balcony?"_

_"W-what? No, it wasn't that, I–" Daphne frowned. "Why would I need to jump off a balcony?"_

_"Beats me, you were the one doing 'nothing', and I don't know how to do or think your 'nothing'." Bloom mused._

_"What's your problem with me?!" Daphne hissed, now trying to forcibly remove herself from the situation, only Bloom held her tighter. "Leave me alone!"_

_"Okay, firstly tell me why I should leave you alone. And secondly on an unrelated note, if you want to be left alone, why don't you go back to being a disembodied spirit in that lake of yours, instead of wandering the palace like a lost soul! It's less hurtful for everyone that way."_

_"How dare you!"_

_"I dare. Because that's what you seem to want to do nowadays."_

_Daphne was visibly agitated. "Just what made you think you can waltz in here and insult me!"_

_"Many things." Bloom replied coldly._

_"What 'things' you speak of? I don't know your 'things'." Daphne sneered._

_"Fine." Bloom squinted "Allow me to rephrase myself, since you clearly won't happily volunteer to tell me on your own." pausing, she took a deep breath " I know you're hurting and upset Daphne."_

_"Pardon me, but all of that previous nastiness was an expression of your concern? I am so touched, truly."_

_"Stop being cynical, I know you haven't really been alright since…since, you came back, nearly a year ago…and especially for the last few months…I know you're not feeling okay." Bloom's mouth quivered as she spoke, evidently trying to maintain self-control as her older sister's negative emotions washed over her._

_"And who are you to know my feelings?"_

_"Daphne…"_

_"I. AM. FINE."_

_"No, no you're not." _

_"You don't really know anything about me! You don't know how I feel!"_

_"Oh geez I don't know, maybe because I'm a fairy and I have magical powers like you and I can see your feelings? You've got an unmistakably miserable aura hanging over you, and I see it, as in right now!"_

_Daphne's expression stiffened. "No I –wait what did you say? Bloom…you…can't, I'm not a mere human I –"_

_"But I don't need really need magic to know how you feel Daphne," Bloom cut in "I can see it, all day, every day. You're, you're so out of it, and you're getting worse. And I'm sick of not being able to just tell you I'm worried about you! We've been doing that long enough already. And-and, I'm your sister, we have that mental link remember, I know when you're in pain, even when we've been separated for so long..." _

_Bloom scrunched her eyes shut, swallowing back her own turmoil, letting go of Daphne in the process._

_"Oh, Bloom." Daphne shivered. Her body slumped against the crystal doors as she watched her younger sister compose herself in the way she no longer really could, in a way she forgot. "I thought it was just me. I…" she sighed brokenly "I've been really selfish haven't I?"_

_ Bloom looked at her sister, her eyes less piercing and far gentler. She carefully took Daphne's hands into hers. "You're such a bad liar. You should know you can talk to me." she whispered, squeezing them lovingly._

_Daphne drew their hands up, clenching them tighter. "Bloom, I…I really don't have any words, I –"_

_"Save it, and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have egged you on, I was just…come here." Bloom wiggled her hands out of Daphne's grasp and wrapped her arms around her, burying herself in her sister's embrace. Daphne offered no resistance. They were silent for a few moments._

_"This is what happens when we don't talk to each other properly. Sometimes I don't feel like we really can because of all of these court rules and royal expectations." Bloom paused._

_Daphne looked at her sister oddly. "Bloom, it's not your fault we can't, as Crown Princess…you, you have many duties that you must attend…to." Daphne slowed down; she clenched her teeth and said nothing more. _

_ In the quiet, Bloom began to sense Daphne's realisation and started speaking._

_"Daphne, I've never been great sentimentally, and I know it's probably not the best thing that you hear it from me," Bloom spoke slowly, clearly trying to choose her words more carefully. "But our…family has been through a lot these past years, all of us have. You don't have to be too smart to figure that much out. Um, what I mean is, it's okay to be, you know–"_

_"We're princesses Bloom," Daphne pulled herself away "Leaders of our kingdom, protectors of our people! So much rests on our decisions and our duty, and how we conduct ourselves! We'll be failing more than just ourselves if we are any less than that, because so many look up to us!"_

_"Yes, I…I know that." Bloom bit her lip. "But –"_

_"But nothing, Bloom. If you're worried about how the state of the kingdom affects our family…affects me…do not be, the concerns regarding the matter are not…unexpected." Daphne turned and saw Bloom's disappointed expression "Besides, you should not fret, everything…"_

_"Daphne." Bloom said, "I want to talk to you about it without the political run-around. We hear enough pointless banter already every time we–"_

_"No, there is nothing to discuss any further. The safety and preservation of Domino and the Magical Dimension comes first in this regard. The universe expects us to act accordingly." _

_ "The universe, sure, but that shouldn't be an excuse for not being there for each other! Problems like those will be solved one way or another! It's the people who have to deal with those problems that I'm more worried–"_

_"That's far too idealistic Bloom in this situation, you know that." Daphne pleaded, but Bloom, perhaps understanding her point was being lost, launched back._

_"You can't protect me from everything Daphne!" _

_"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think everyone in the great royal household of Domino knows that?!" Daphne snapped "There's so much about running our kingdom that you still don't understand. Domino sits precariously as a point of balance for the forces of the universe, magically in a sense, but politically especially. That is why there has to be so much decided for us."_

_Bloom uttered nothing in response, and Daphne could see she was quietly seething, like she did when her assigned tutors lectured her about royal expectations and behaviour._

_"Listen, Bloom please, our royal court, our parents, will take care of this."_

_Bloom looked at Daphne again, seeping in long shadows. "And you say that I'm the one who is idealistic?"_

_"What?" Daphne looked bewildered._

_"Domino has been virtually absent from the political stage for nearly two decades."_

_"And?"_

_ "While our kingdom can support itself to a degree, time will have to be taken to fully rebuild and re-establish alliances and connections with other nations to fully re-integrate ourselves into regular society, from a structural and administrative perspective at least."_

_Daphne's face wrinkled in confusion "Bloom? I don't…"_

_"Don't you think our situation is perhaps a little more desperate than you think? I mean, before Domino's restoration, the Royal Conclave was already considering an alternative–"_

_"Bloom, you don't know what you're talking about." Daphne cut in irritably "That was just…"_

_"It means we and our parents don't have many options. And they're not just our parents, they're leaders, rulers. And rulers have to make certain decisions and sometimes under pressure, they can become…different. Daphne, they probably can't care at this point what we–"_

_'Don't you dare speak of our parents that way! I know them far better than you ever will! You weren't even raised by them for nearly all of your life!" Daphne fumed. Unable to control herself, she slapped Bloom right across the face._

_Bloom hardly flinched from the swiping hand, didn't even let out a gasp or a cry, or clutch her stinging cheek. She merely sighed and let her vision fly up to the intricately ornamented ceiling, as if she expected her sister's outburst, and that it disappointed her even further._

_"B-Bloom? I'm sorry, it's just…" Daphne croaked "You're right, I've been…well, everything has become so confusing and a blur, maybe I'm just getting older and having all of these concerns, oh, I'm–"_

_Bloom just closed her eyes, her fingers ploughing up her skull._

_"No, I'll say it for you. You're sounding a lot like father these days." _

_"Oh." Daphne could feel her eyes watering, but Bloom looked like as far as she was concerned, the conversation was over._

_"Look," Bloom wrung her other hand on her neck before letting her limbs both fall "It's getting late and it's been a long day, we're tired. We need to sleep. You should sleep."_

_"Bloom, it's quite early."_

_"Then it's an early night. Good evening, Princess Daphne." and without another word, Bloom turned heel._

_Daphne trembled, her mind screamed at her: why was this happening, why was it happening? What did they do for this to happen, what did she do…_

_"Bloom wait! Don't…"_

_But the chamber was already empty once again. Empty with only herself to keep her company. Again._

* * *

The most ancient of stories are dominated with spirits attempting to forsake divine order. These pure beings of immeasurable power; they guided, manipulated the creatures below them, so that they may descend on physical existence, and be rendered mortal.

When I was a child I could never understand it; why these near-godly beings would ever want to adopt a form that was far less than they were. All they would be doing would be making themselves into mere animals compared to their spiritual greatness. It didn't make any sense.

In those old tales they say both the body and the soul of a person is what makes that person alive.

Without the soul, the body becomes weak, susceptible and frail.

But without the body to provide mortal touch, the spirit becomes detached, disinterested, coldly intellectual when regarding the cares of the world.

Spirits may be real. And yet, they are not alive. Not like_ we_ are. Not like what I am now.

I doubt any spirit would want to be like me, though. To at long last receive my mortal coil the way I have.

Ah, why? How many times do I turn these thoughts over and over in my mind? How longer I must?

I try so desperately to feel the infused spirit in this flesh. I try to make these two halves of my being become one. I try so that I can be like I once was, and belong with those who are alive…

I fail, I fail so wretchedly.

But then I wonder, why would I ever want to be like I once was?

Before my bodiless existence all I was a wishful, innocent sixteen-year old, whose life was _bliss_. I was shielded, protected from the harshness of life's reality because of my youth.

That youth, for all her _noble_ intentions was still so naïve.

And in my naivety I flung myself into doom, thinking that any grand sacrifice I made would justify my existence.

All it did was snuff out any existence, right before my eyes, before I had a chance to really live at all.

Before I knew what it meant to be alive.

Perhaps that was why the Ancestral Witches were so unchangeably consummated with hate so vile. That their hatred of life clung to their spirits bound to Obsidian.

Their connections to the living had been forcibly severed, maybe through an unknown grief, or most likely, their own greedy designs. Some wonder how their thoughts turned rapidly from domination to destruction; I do not. Why should they rule those who had the privilege of living that they could not claim as their own?

In the long depths I came to know of their plight. For it was my plight too. I shared their sorrow.

They wanted me to.

But confessing to such camaraderie with evil is bound to bring ill.

It is horror and treason to the good living that one could possibly sympathise with any fixed malevolence that cares not for the crimes they commit. Judged as succumbing to darkness and fearing infection, the living distance themselves, unsure and unable to react.

Until at long last, the sympathiser abandons all hope, and blocks out the screams for salvation, with solitude.

Is that my fate, I whisper, for which there will never be a reply. For I dread that reply.

And all that's left for me to think of, to dream…

**What if things had been different?**

What if I had saved myself, instead of upholding the good and the honour I did not really understand?

I wouldn't have had these walls to trap me and separate me from life. To let the separation make me succumb to its danger and trick me into building my own bars, and craft my own shackles.

How can I free myself from the prison I had a hand in building?

A most cruel admittance to my shame.

In my doubt, against any reason, I ask myself…

How wilfully do we carry our hateful prisons? These prisons that we make?

My heart is silent, without consolation.

A voice buried deep within me answers: until the end of our breathable days, and into eternity…

My name is Daphne of Domino.

I am a lost princess who has been given a chance to come back and be free, to reclaim what is hers.

But all there is, is bitterness.

* * *

**_Author notes:_**_ This piece introduces and explores Daphne, who is going to be a main character in my upcoming fanfiction saga __**Beloved**__. Initially I was going to leave out the lengthy dialogue in between, but I think it's important to setting up the stage for the main story, as well as giving readers an idea of how the tale is situated. I'm also experimenting with writing style as well. ( And I wasn't sure where to put this in my actual story, so I thought maybe it would be a cool idea if I just made it a one shot even if that makes it lengthy)The second instalment of this prologue/introduction to main characters will be up soon. Hopefully._

_Two major inspirations that helped me out when writing Daphne's POV were these two stories: __**miko647635's Bitterness**__ and __**The13thGirlWithoutASoul's Saint Daphne**__. Special thanks to them!_


	2. Insubstantial

**~ Insubstantial ~**

_Opening log entries. _

_ "Is this thing working? Testing…testing…"_

* * *

Entry 207,623. Time of recording, evening. Date and relevant events supplied in entry description.

So, hello recording…log…thing.

…

I'm just waiting for someone to tell me to stop recording.

That one sane person to tell me that doing this stupid log is stupid. Stupid and pointless.

What are you trying to do?

And what is doing this going to prove? Making all of these silly records?

That I'm a good person?

Eugh. Something is telling me to be disgusted at even saying that, that I could be good. But racial and social perceptions are ridiculously overrated.

And yes being good is a racial concern.

Because according to everybody you have to be a certain pretty, lovely-skinned sunshine creature to be considered good.

All the time I'm so bloody mindful about that kind of…culture. _People_ are so dense with their perceptions of what's supposed to be right or wrong just from the _outside_…and is it so stupid that they're usually right?

All of these cut-out villains to oppress them. All of these two-dimensional heroes to liberate them. Over and over and over.

All these royal leaders and their blabber about progress over their propaganda machines.

When the truth is it's the same sad story playing out exactly the same way as it has for centuries. All's well in the Magical-fucking-Dimension. Stupid _fairy tales_…

So that's why I'm always acting accordingly to my scripted personality, dictated by my genes, my home…my life.

The evil-dark-witch from an evil-dark-dead-witchy-planet filled with evil-witchy-dead-dark-things.

…Bloody hell.

And that's how I pitch myself day in and day out in this stupid dimension. So that they don't know what I really think about all of it. Not that I have to really try but…

To think that I even think so hard about this kind of shallow messed up shit!

Ugh.

I don't want to care about it anymore, why can't I just run away from all of this bullshit. It's all stupid, useless bullshit.

Seriously, it's so bad that even when I'm talking to myself I'm still watching what I say.

Why can't I just speak freely to myself? Why should I worry about what people think of me, of my actions? TO MYSELF?

It's not like I'm going to try and tell people, why would they even listen to me, all of these people who've been living the same way comfortably is absolute…_bliss_.

Bliss that I can't have.

Shit, I go bumming around every corner of the Magical Dimension I should have that liberty to begin with! That liberty to be honest with myself.

Why should I compensate for everyone's dumbness?! They don't care. Why should I care?!

Why does everything have to be so damn complicated all the time? Complicated and confusing?

…

I don't know.

It's not that everything is so confusing.

I'm getting tired of fooling around: playing, learning I guess, but waiting too.

Doing a lot of damn waiting.

Too much waiting; I'm getting bored.

It's because nothing is happening.

Absolutely nothing…ever since Tritannus…

That stupid fish.

Good grief, him and Icy, it just made me fucking sick. Even though it was almost a bloody year ago, and get this, she's still not over him.

Our lives are no longer complete until she has her daily hissy fit about him. At least drooling over Baltor took a team effort!

Which worries me for all sorts of reasons…I've never seen her invested in anyone before; until him...the way she talked about him, adored him, it was seriously so fucking disturbing.

And I'm supposed to be evil incarnate, isn't that saying something?

_*sighs*_

Good. Evil. Who cares…?

I don't know I'm just tired I guess.

Before it wasn't hard.

Years ago.

Man, I feel old.

But yes, years ago. When ruling the Magical Dimension was some far away tangible dream, and she and Stormy would get so worked up about getting all of this silly power to rule everything. What they thought was everything anyway.

It was an easy dream to aspire to.

Causing mischief and mayhem everywhere we went…I mean, it's no secret at this point I never believed in the whole debacle, but it was fun enough. And simple enough just go along with it.

It's not so simple anymore.

Stormy was never really a problem…she might be a walking disaster but she listens to me when I really put it to her, because she knows better.

But Icy…

She's getting older as I am; technically she is older than me. But I think she knows…

Knows the dream is getting hollow.

I mean it's not really unexpected, I think we've been beaten enough times for her to start questioning why we are on the losing end all of the time…

And that worries me.

I don't know what's going to happen with her involved anymore.

Her anger…it's just different. And I'm getting worried.

For the first time in my life I'm actually getting afraid. I think really afraid.

And its stuff like that that sometimes I wish that…

…I could talk to _her _about it.

Ah…

I really do wish I could talk to her about it. I haven't really seen her in what feels like ages.

Well, it's not like I haven't seen her. I mean we have been in correspondence, though not using virtual messaging or magic or anything.

Ever since those stupid Lightrock monks said they were going to assist in upgrading security technology across the Magical Dimension, I'm not taking any fucking chances. For us or for her.

If any higher government power gets any idea of what's actually going on between us…

No…no, I'm not even going to think about that. I'm sure they don't even know anything. I'm just overreacting, thinking ahead of myself.

Yeah…yeah.

It's just we just haven't been able to talk like we used to.

Even she can't think of ways to get away anymore.

And besides, she has actual duties to be worried about now, and real friends…and family. And a fiancé and potential in-laws. It's been funny hearing her get so innocently worked up about that. Getting married…

I thought I'd never hear her like that. Never even dreamed about it.

Considering what she went through with me.

I'm happy for her, I suppose. Yeah, I really am.

By all accounts she's the kind of person I'd want a happy ending for.

Hmm.

…

Geez, listen to me.

Old habits go and die hard. I guess.

Hah.

I still remember when doing this video log was like homework. Strangely though, I never seemed to run out of things to say…around her at least…

Funny how it's always the little considerations that make you miss the biggest things in your life?

Yeah, the other day I actually managed to get away with the other two not even caring. Didn't even know I was gone.

I don't know what got into me, I felt like I'd find a more creative way to get in and avoid the guards…and I'm still not sure how I managed to get in that tree without any magic whatsoever.

But I saw her in the palace gardens, it was late evening, though the sun was still setting, but in the glow…

She looked…beautiful.

But.

I didn't see her face but she looked troubled or something, like something was bothering her. It was the way she was walking I guess. I've known her long enough to know when there's something bothering her…

Though…maybe it was just me.

She stopped suddenly, sort of at an angle to the tree. And turned her head ever so slightly for just a second. Like she was acknowledging me.

Then a few brisk steps later she was gone.

Then there was something glinting at the base of the tree, and what would you know she'd left a letter.

With this medal…

Huh, she was always joking she'd never give it back.

…

Yeah, one of these days I really will check up on her.

This only friend of mine…

* * *

_Saving log entry. _

_Log entry saved._

* * *

**_Author notes:_**_ Sorry for readers who found this quite a ramble, but this piece is dedicated to exploring the character and mind of Darcy, who is going to be a very interesting main character in my upcoming fanfiction saga __**Beloved**__. It was also in particular a character study for the premises of her character, because arguably she's probably going to be one of the more complicated persons in my story. Also incidentally introducing some plot devices that will come into play much later in my story, so that should keep you on your toes :) Hopefully the next and final installment of this prologue will be out much sooner!_

**_Interesting notes:_**_ Sorry for taking so long to update these short stories, but this particular part has been really difficult for me to write! I've changed its format and perspective several times, and even now I'm not sure I'm very happy with it, but it's done._


	3. Echoes

**~Echoes~**

**_Past._**

Stillness.

Nothing moves.

Nothing changes.

Wide.

Far.

Empty.

I perceive it as dark.

I see nothing in this darkness.

**_Past._**

My stupefied body, it pounds.

I don't know how I'm breathing.

Laden breaths throbbing in my ears, rushing by.

Louder and louder and louder.

A rumbling storm moaning in my mind.

Numberless voices watering my soul.

Washing me.

Drowning me.

Fraught with dying.

**_Past._**

Formal calculated precision; absolute in dispensing such great distress.

The agonized whimpering.

Miserable, frantic, screaming laughter.

Miasma of the vanquished.

The self-damned.

The weak.

My mind's fog dissipating to sunken, swirling panting.

**_It's passed._**

At long last, the words fall away.

My earthy coil shed like cracked serpent's skin.

Alone in this twilight, this oblivion.

I long for that oblivion, for my existence to become hollowed and empty.

To be looped in that dark eternity.

Call it sin.

Darkness is silence.

And silence is peace.

Peace for this diseased mind.

Sick.

Sick to death of trying to justify a life, this life…

…my life.

Weak. Pathetic. Just waiting to be put out of my misery.

I won't resist.

I won't.

Just…just hurry it up please.

Please.

* * *

**_"Psst. You should shove her or something."_**

**_"My goodness, she sleeps like a log doesn't she?"_**

What?

**_"Humph. She's getting lazier and lazier I tell you!"_**

**_"No, I'm certain she's just exhausted. Do you see how hard she works right into the night?"_**

**_"Working on what exactly? You've heard the rumours!"_**

…I can't be alive can I? Oh please.

**_"SHUSH! Just…just wake her up!"_**

Oh please let me be dead.

**_"Good morning Princess Bloom!"_**

No. No.

**_"Your highness! Time to rise and shine!"_**

No, no light. Argh. It. Burns.

Just leave me alone.

_"Leave me alone."_

**…**

**_"Princess, it's already late morning. Your parents already set your morning meal close to midday just because of you. After you came very late last–"_**

Oh fine. FINE.

I don't need to feel any more guilty than I already do.

**_"Oh, uh. Princess? Would you like…?"_**

**_"Princess? We can help dress you up in your morning gown."_**

Servants. Bedroom. Servants in this bedroom.

I hate them both right now.

Out. OUT.

**_"And not even a thank you."_**

**_"…we didn't even help her you know."_**

**_"Oh shut up."_**

And fuck off.

* * *

**_"Your parents and sister are in the pavilion for breakfast today your highness."_**

Change, creaking change.

Full of sickly sweet air, thick with forced brightness.

**_"Hello dear."_**

**_"Good morning Bloom. Slept well?"_**

Voices multiplying, becoming louder.

Loudness. Noise. Noise. Noise.

_"Morning, mom, dad." _

Noise that twists silence into discomfort.

**_"So, darling are you feeling prepared for today's schedule?"_**

_"Uh..."_

**_"Mother. Bloom's been keeping to her schedule just fine. You don't need to talk to her like it's her first time she's doing royal duties."_**

I hate noise.

**_"Daphne sweetheart, that isn't what I meant."_**

_"Good morning to you too, Daphne."_

**_"Humph."_**

**_"So, what are we all doing today? ...Oh?"_**

**_"Good morning Lucas. What is it that you have there?"_**

**_"A message from Eraklyon your majesties."_**

I can guess.

**_"For us?"_**

**_"Um…no…uh…it's addressed to Crown Princess Bloom specifically."_**

I just start reaching for it and I know…

**_"Let me read that."_**

Utterly predictable.

Her fingers fumble the paper, screeching and scratching.

Vicious, and suspicious.

So full of care.

_"Daphne." _

I don't care.

I'm so tired of keeping up with them all. I don't care. I don't want to care.

Just let go. Let go of everything.

Everything she reads aloud.

**_"The royal court of Eraklyon thanks Crown Princess Bloom of Domino for her continued pledge of goodwill and support between our two kingdoms. The–"_**

Shit.

**_"B-Bloom! I was reading that!"_**

**_"Oh Bloom, no reason to be so embarrassed! I think it's brilliant that you are forging strong relations with our allies." _**

**_"Relations that we have no idea about."_**

**_"Now Daphne..."_**

**_"Oritel, I…I'm also curious. Dear, you should know your father and I are quite proud that you are making such an effort to secure our kingdom. But, you speak very little of your communications with the Eraklyon court."_**

**_"Mariam?"_**

**_"Bloom I just want you to know that…"_**

I…I don't think this will ever end.

**_"Bloom is something wrong?"_**

**_"Bloom! What's happened?"_**

**_"Is it Sky? Has something happened to him?"_**

_"No! No, it's nothing to do with him, I have to go."_

**_"Oh, alright. Then I'll come with –"_**

_"Dad you have that mutual trade agreement between Solaria and Lynphea to sign today."_

**_"Oh, well, yes but…"_**

**_"Your father can see you off."_**

They're so wrong. Why is everything so wrong right now?

**_"Any meeting with Eraklyon can wait, besides you haven't even had–"_**

I…no…I can't think like this right now.

**_"Bloom! Sit down, you haven't even eaten anything!"_**

I have to focus.

**_"Bloom!"_**

I have to go.

_"I have to go."_

**_"Bloom!"_**

I don't know what it is I'm feeling right now.

I can feel my mind searching; it's on the tip of my tongue.

**_"Bloom!"_**

It's so close…

And I just know it.

**_"Bloom!"_**

It's the meaningless reverberations of my mind.

* * *

**_Author notes:_**_ Sorry again for readers who might have found this a bit of a ramble, but I'm also experimenting with style. This piece looks into my final main character for my fanfiction saga __**Beloved**__, Bloom, and similar to Darcy and Daphne, this is a character study as to how she will be presented to the audience. I've been experimenting with writing styles to try and tailor them to suit the mindset of the characters. But I don't think I will be using this one I used for Bloom in my actual story. In any case now, this prologue/introduction is complete and you can look forward to the first official installment of my Winx Club spin-off series entitled: __**A Story of Evil**__. I hope everyone who's read so far remains interested!_

**_Interesting notes:_**_ This writing style is meant to be seen as a virtual transcript of Bloom's thoughts and what she hears other people saying exactly. What remains unsaid such as setting and movement is left to the imagination of the reader. For a guide, the normal text is Bloom's thoughts, the italicized text is Bloom's speech that people around her hear, and the italicized bold text is either what other people around her say, or voices outside of Bloom._


End file.
